Promise ring

My sister sent me a text of the gorgeous promise ring that her boyfriend, Justin gave her.

See?


And because I'm a born trouble maker, and my third favorite thing in the world is giving my little sister a hard time, I proceeded to bombard her about what exactly this meant.

Me: So you're engaged?
Erin: No, I'm engaged to be engaged. We're basically promising each other that we will get engaged.
Me: Isn't that the same thing as that conversation that you have where you basically say, "I have no plans to break up with you" ?
Erin: Well yeah, but I got a diamond ring out of it, too.
Me: So...why not a real engagement ring?
Erin: We wanted to be practical, and save money for a place that we'd really like to live together.
Me: So what finger do you wear it on?
Erin: The wedding finger.

I finally gave up, because I just didn't quite understand why they didn't just get engaged all the way, instead of wasting money on one diamond ring when he's going to have to buy a different one soon, but then I remembered the most important question of all...

Me: What is your Facebook relationship status going to say?
Erin: In a Relationship.

Whack. If Facebook, which as we all know is the end all be all, doesn't have a status for Engaged-To-Be-Engaged, then I'm not convinced it exists.

But my little sister is happy, and I'm happy for her. Welcome (Almost-To-Be-Almost) to the family, Justin.

Twilight

It was only a matter of time before I gave in and read this series.



I bought the first two books Monday...

Stared at them Monday and Tuesday, trying to prolong the inevitable, disappear from society phase I slip into when I become engrossed in a novel...

And gave in tonight.

Confession: I did watch the first hour and a half of the movie online, so I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen in the book, and that is sort of ruining the book for me so far. I didn't expect the movie to follow the book so closely, and I'm not as on the edge of me seat gripped by the story as I expected.

Which is just as well, since I have dogs that need walks and to be fed, a husband who also needs to be fed, and I'm currently overwhelmed with both work and my new working out plan at the gym. Still, looking forward to a few chapters each night as I wind down in bed!

Chili

The Great Johnson Chili Recipe

Tyler and I love chili. Well, we love the idea of chili. Meat and beans, spices and cheese, served over pasta and with cornbread...it sounds like our kind of heaven.

But, we haven't found a recipe that we really loved, so are going to start experimenting.

Tonight, I made a Chunky Beef Chili, courtesy of a card I found on the floor at Target.

Ingredients:
2 tsp. Olive Oil
1.5 lb beef chuck cut for stew
2 Tbsp chili powder (I used 3)
1 Tbsp cornmeal (I wasn't sure if they wanted white or yellow - I used yellow)
1 cup water
2 (14.5oz ea) cans of diced tomatoes (I used three 10-oz cans of a diced tomato and diced green chiles mix)
1 (15oz) can of spicy chili beans (Couldn't find these, I used red kidney beans)
I also added to taste some Franks Red Hot Sauce and Sriracha. We like a little kick :)

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add beef and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until very brown. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, one hour, or until beef is tender. Stir occasionally. We made pasta twirls, and served the chili over the pasta, with a big handful of shredded cheddar.



Verdict:
I tried a bit of meat right after the 8 minutes in the saucepan, and it was pretty much well done at that point. Cooking everything for one hour only made the meat more tough - it definitely didn't get even close to tender. I'm curious how it would have worked with adding all ingredients at once, and then let the meat cook along with everything else. However, Tyler and I just agreed that we'd prefer a recipe with ground beef rather than stew beef.



It has good bones, I especially like using the diced tomato/chile mix, but needs some adjusting!

Also, I was too lazy to make cornbread from scratch, so this is what Tyler got -



And it turned out pretty good, for a box!

Surprises!

Tyler is not a planner. I accepted this a long time ago, and know that if I want to go to dinner on my birthday, then I need to make reservations, etc. He's also not particularly creative and never tries anything new or out of his comfort zone.

I asked him what he wanted to do for Valentine's this year, and offered to cook. And he casually goes, "Actually, we have reservations in the tasting room at Restaurant Eve in Alexandria."

I almost fell over, I couldn't believe he planned in advance, and while I was bouncing in excitement, I slipped, "Hm, Alexandria is awfully far from where we live now" and then he added, "Yeah, thats why I got us a suite at the Hotel Monaco.

Love love love love love this man <3

Hotel Monaco: